The chief executive of Birmingham Airport has warned that UK aviation needs “flexibility and resilience” to respond to a changing industry.

Paul Kehoe told the Airports Commission the country needs a network of long-haul airports to adapt respond to an industry that is changing quickly and whose future shape is unclear.

Mr Kehoe was appearing in front of the commission on a panel of industry experts to outline his approach to airport operating models and its implications for the future of UK aviation.

He said: “The incremental development of four major long-haul airports across Britain would represent a truly national aviation strategy by supporting the growth of businesses across the UK - something that a “one airport” solution in the South East can never deliver.

“And whether we have a constrained hub at Heathrow, or a new hub in the Thames Estuary, our approach would complement expansion plans in the South East,” Mr Kehoe added. “At a time when the aviation industry is changing quickly, a network approach provides the flexibility and resilience that the UK needs to respond to all future scenarios. It is a practicable solution in a complex aviation environment – one that would keep the door open at a time when the future shape of global aviation is unclear,” he said.

Birmingham Airport is currently running a series of hard-hitting political adverts. One of the adverts argues that a third runway at Heathrow is not a long-term national aviation strategy and that the UK needs a network of long-haul airports across the country: “A third runway won’t solve our aviation problems. Four airports will”.